Appeals court won't delay Stevens report

3/14/12 10:58 AM EDT

A 500-page report on alleged prosecutorial misconduct in the criminal case against the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) looks likely to be released Thursday, after a federal appeals court refused one prosecutor's request to block disclosure of the report.

In an order Wednesday (posted here), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said prosecutor Edward Sullivan had "not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending appeal." The appeals court judges who considered the question of delaying release of the report, Karen Henderson, David Tatel and Janice Brown, did not issue an opinion further explaining their reasoning.

A message for an attorney for Sullivan, Brian Heberlig, was not immediately returned.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, who presided over Stevens's trial, issued an order last month decreeing that the report from court-appointed prosecutor Henry Schuelke be released on Thursday. Sullivan assigned Schuelke to investigate the alleged misconduct years ago after the Justice Department asked the court to vacate Stevens's conviction and dismiss the case as a result of what Attorney General Eric Holder said was a failure by prosecutors to share material evidence with the defense.

Nearly all of the court filings about the issue of disclosing Schuelke's report are under seal, but it appears that Edward Sullivan argued that it was unfair to disclose the report because it would amount to a formal accusation of wrongdoing without any obvious forum for them to dispute the findings. Judge Sullivan has agreed to publish their responses along with the report.

UPDATE/CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post said it appeared that prosecutor William Welch was among those who opposed public filing of the Schuelke report. In a court document released on Thursday (posted here), lawyers for Welch said he "supports public release of the report." The filing also indicated that a Justice Department investigation into alleged misconduct in the Stevens case cleared Welch.

A previously-sealed legal opinion released Thursday (and posted here) indicates that release of the report was opposed by prosecutors Edward Sullivan, Joseph Bottini, James Goeke and lawyers for the estate of Nicholas Marsh, a prosecutor who committed suicide. The opinion, by Judge Emmet Sullivan, says prosecutor Brenda Morris supported releasing the report and Welch did not object to release.